


This Is Love

by radiobatsy



Category: Batman: The Telltale Series (Video Game)
Genre: Batjokes Secret Santa 2020, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, John laughs when he is nervous and he's nervous a lot around bats, M/M, batjokessanta, vigilante joker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiobatsy/pseuds/radiobatsy
Summary: I doesn't really snow in Gotham, at least not what Bruce would call snow. He's been so many places in the world, calling the slushy flakes of debris that fell from the sky in Gotham "snow" would be an insult.John hasn't really been able to get out into the world, and neither has Bruce recently due to his... nightly obligations, but this year is the perfect chance to share an experience with John that didn't include conflict with the Agency.
Relationships: John Doe/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	This Is Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ruttopoika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruttopoika/gifts).



Snowflakes danced in the air, swirling around one another like two lovers caught in a timeless waltz. And framed by the tangoing crystals, was the silhouette of a bat, no… a man… no, a _Batman_.

Bruce Wayne, playboy bachelor, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and best friend of John Doe, was on vacation, as many were at this time of year, but Batman never got a vacation, he was Batman after all. Bruce looked out over the rooftops of Gotham and sighed, there were always petty criminals this time of year, but he tended to overlook the fathers stealing food for their families, or mothers stealing cheap toys to give their children for Christmas, he was more concerned about bigger and more dangerous people taking advantage of the bad weather conditions to commit more heinous activities.

“There you are, Bats!” 

Bruce turned and looked over his shoulder to see Joker climbing over the ledge of the rooftop to come join him. His green hair was covered in little patches of snow and little spots of his makeup had been smudged away by the melted particles. 

“I knew I would find you up here brooding,” He said with his usual grin as he hopped over. His arms were wrapped around his body in an obvious attempt to stay warm. “Geez, you’ll catch a cold if you aren’t careful out here.” He laughed a little.

Bruce sighed and turned around to look out at the city again. Ever since John had proclaimed himself to be Batman’s partner, he always seemed to show up wherever Batman was, no matter what. He didn’t hate the company, but he was sometimes concerned with Batman’s association with Joker and how it looked to people, specifically Commissioner Gordon.

“Of course, I shouldn’t be worried about you, your Batman.” Joker continued after he didn’t get a response. “I mean, I’m not ever sure you _can_ get sick.” He laughed and sat down on the ledge next to Batman’s legs. “So, what’re we looking for today? Waller sending out Cat lady to patrol the Toys for Tots or something?”

Bruce shook his head and finally knelt to sit with him. “Nothing yet. Maybe it’s too cold for criminals.”

Joker laughed and looked over at Bruce. “I’m not sure that’s how it works. But…!” He poked Bruce’s side. “You’re Batman, so maybe you’re right.” He giggled a little more.

Bruce knew that John laughed more when he was nervous, and he was used to the giggling when he was in the Batsuit. John admired Batman, but he also made him nervous. But something felt different, the laughing was a little bit excessive, and Bruce didn’t know how to bring it up casually, he never was very good with asking John about himself.

“You know…” John started again. “Maybe they took a day off… like you said.” He added with a big grin. “Maybe we can take a day off too?” He suggested, a small head tilt adding to his suggestion.

Bruce looked over at him and could almost feel the quivering of John’s lips as he attempted to hold back another nervous giggle. He wanted to smile back at him, but not only would that completely destroy his Batman aesthetic, but it was also difficult to make facial expressions other than anger with the cowl on. “That sounds like a good idea.” He said before standing up and holding his hand out as an offering for John, which he took with a huge grin and a smile chuckle.

“I have an idea for a relaxing day off.” Bruce said, although he didn’t really, he was just hoping to actually spend some time with John outside of fighting criminals. It was hard to admit it to himself after everything that happened with Waller, but he did see John as his friend, and he felt really bad for getting close to him and using his trust for personal gain. 

John smiled and bounced around Bruce on the rooftop. “Ooh! An adventure with Brucie!” His smiled was so big, if Bruce didn’t know any better, he would be afraid of his face getting stuck like that. “Will you take me on one of your private jets to a place far from Gotham?” He said, spread his arms out like he was one of the jets he was describing. “Or maybe we buy a private mountain, _are those even a thing_ , where it snows so we can stand at the top and look down on all the little people?” He looked back at Bruce. “Or will we go back to Bruce’s big ol’ manor and sit by the fire place while we talk about all of the things that ail us?”

None of the things that John had said sounded like actual suggestions, but Bruce couldn’t help but to let his mind wonder and think about the possibilities of _actually_ doing those things, well… except buying a mountain, he didn’t think that was realistic.

Bruce grabbed Joker’s hands and pulled him closer to him. “Hold on.” He said before he spread his arms and leaped off of the roof, letting the cape act as make-shift wings, allowing them to peacefully glide over the rooftops of Gotham.

John yelped as they descended and his arms wrapped tightly around Bruce’s abdomen, quickly followed by his legs. “Give me a warning next time, Bats.” 

That made Bruce laugh a little, despite himself.

### 

John wandered the halls of Wayne Manor as he waited for Bruce to finish up with his preparations. He was clueless as to what they were doing, despite the fact that Bruce planned to follow his suggestions almost exactly.

He was busy admiring his reflection in some shiny armor that had been set on display when Bruce came up beside him. “Ready?” 

John turned to him with a big grin on his face. “For what? Or is it a surprise?”

Bruce smiled. “Well, now that you mention it, maybe it should be a surprise.”

John pouted dramatically at that, making Bruce laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll love it.” He said, before holding out his hand. “Now, ready to get on one of those private jets you were talking about earlier?”

John’s eye lit up at those words. “Are you kidding? What are we waiting for?!” He took Bruce’s hand and started to take off. Bruce allowed him to guide them, a bigger smile spreading across his face. It was nice seeing John get excited over things like this. He wasn’t completely out of touch with reality, so he knew that normal people didn’t have private jets, but it was normal to him, so it was endearing to be able to share it with someone who thought it was special.

Once they got to the jet, well, more like a small personal plane, on Bruce’s very own private airstrip, located right outside of Wayne Manor, John let go of Bruce’s hand and started jumping up and down. “Where’s the pilot?” He asked, looking around. “Is Alfred flying?”

Bruce flinched a little, John knew that Alfred had left, and he knew that John didn’t forget it that easily, but he would still mention him from time to time. It felt like he was poking a wound that had healed incorrectly. Bruce still missed Alfred and regretted the actions the lead up to him leaving, and he still convinced himself sometimes that he would come back, even though he knew in the back of his mind that he never would.

Bruce shook his head and spread out his arms. “I’m flying us.”

John looked surprised, excited, and concerned all at once. “Are you going to crash and kill us?”

Bruce frowned. “No.” He stepped forward towards the aircraft. “You’ve flown in the Batplane with me before, you know I can fly.”

John pressed his lips together and looked away. “Isn’t this different though?” He asked. “It’s not bat themed or anything.” Bruce opened the top of the plane and gestured for John to get inside, he remained quiet, choosing to ignore the other’s comments.

John sighed in defeat and climbed inside. “Fine, but if we die, I’m blaming you.” Bruce hopped in after him and shut the top. “Fair enough.”

### 

The whole flight, John refused to open his eyes, despite Bruce’s insistence that he should look out the window. The whole point of the flight was to show John things he had never been able to see before from within the confines of Gotham, but that _clearly_ wasn’t working, so Bruce landed the plane not even thirty minutes after they had originally taken off.

Bruce hopped out of the plane first and then held his hand out to help John out. “You can open your eyes now.”

John shook his head, his eyes still shut tightly.

Bruce sighed and patted his head. “We are on the ground, you’re safe.”

John shook his head again.

Bruce rolled his eyes and climbed up onto the side of the plane before attempting to pick up John himself to get him out of the plane. That made him open his eyes, as he was hoisted from his seat in the aircraft and thrown over Bruce’s shoulder.

John yelped and grabbed at Bruce’s clothing as they descended the side of the small plane. “Fuck.” Bruce muttered as he teetered. “John, you’re throwing off my balance.” He murmured, which only served to get John to grasp at him even more.

Once Bruce made it safely back down to the ground, he let John down, like a parent setting down a child, except they were both adults, and children are much less difficult.

John looked around. “We didn’t even go anywhere.”

Bruce sighed. “Well the plan was to look at things from the sky, but it seems like someone is afraid of heights.”

John turned back to him and giggled. “You’re afraid of heights?”

Bruce rolled his eyes and laughed lightly, playfully pushing John’s chest. “Come on, we should go inside, it gets colder at night.”

John smiled and bounced after Bruce as they headed back to the manor. “I thought you liked the night?”

### 

Once they made it back inside the house, Bruce lead John to the kitchen. “Well, buying a mountain is out of the question, but I do have a fireplace.” He said casually as he gathered a couple of mugs and some cheap hot cocoa mix that he had gotten from Harvey a while ago.

John paused and tilted his head at Bruce. “Buying a mountain…?” He scrunched up his eyebrows for a moment before he understood what Bruce was trying to say, and when he did, he let out a joyous laugh. “I wasn’t being serious, Brucie. You need to learn how to take a joke sometimes.”

Bruce turned to him and raised a brow. “So, you don’t want to curl up by the fire place and share all of the things that ail us?” He asked with a sarcastic look.

John pouted. “No, I want to do that.” 

Bruce laughed a little as he turned back around to try and figure out how to make the hot cocoa. He did feel a little useless when he realized that he wasn’t able to do basic things after Alfred had left, so he was glad that there were instructions on the cocoa packet.

John came up behind Bruce and wrapped his arms around the other’s waist. He rested his head of Bruce’s shoulder and peaked over so that he could see what he was doing.

Bruce liked this. Having John there with him and just standing in the silence. Not to say that he didn’t like it when they were talking, but sometimes John wasn’t sensitive with the things he said and he hurt Bruce’s feelings without meaning to. Bruce knew he did the same thing, sometimes he was too blunt with John and he hurt his feelings, but they always came back together in the end.

After meeting John in Arkham, he never imagined that they would become actual friends, and even when he joined the pact in an attempt to get to stop their villainous activities, he never would’ve guessed that he would think of John as a friend in the same way that John made it clear he felt about Bruce. 

Well, to be honest, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about John. He definitely enjoyed the other’s company, and he cared about him a lot. He wanted to help him, and he would never forgive himself if he let him go down a dark path, but there was another feeling in the pit of his stomach that showed up whenever John was around. He thought he was able to recognize it as love, platonic love of course, but whenever they were close like this, he wasn’t so sure that _platonic_ was the right word for it.

“Shit!” Bruce had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he had accidentally spilled the hot milk all over himself.

John jumped backwards at the sudden noise before he realized what had happened. He reached out and took Bruce’s shaking hand. “Maybe we should leave the hot chocolate to the butler?” He suggested, attempting to pull Bruce away from the mess he had made.

Bruce sighed and shook his head before setting down the mug and allowing John to pull him away. “No hot chocolate, then.”

John smiled at him. “That’s fine, we don’t need it for the fireplace.”

Bruce looked at him and gave him a small smile. He wanted to do something for himself and for John, but nothing seemed to be going according to plan today. “Yeah, you’re right.”

He lead John out of the kitchen and into the study, where an enormous fireplace decorated the center wall. John’s face immediately lit up as they entered the room. He dragged Bruce by the hand as he gathered the decorative pillows from the chairs so he could pile them all up in front of the fireplace. Bruce followed him and smiled as he watched him set up a make-shift cuddle spot in front of the fake fireplace (he would never tell John it was fake though).

John laid down on the pillows and spread his limbs out in all directions. He laughed and looked up at Bruce. “Now this is nice. Forget buying a mountain or seeing the world, all I need is right here in Gotham.”

Bruce smiled, that feeling resurfacing in his stomach again. He sat down on the pillows next to John and let him lay across his lap.

John looked up at Bruce and smiled. “Thanks, Brucie. Today was a good day.”

Bruce smiled. “I’m glad that you had fun.” He said as he reached down to run his fingers through John’s hair, it was much softer that he expected, considering he styled it with some sort of hair gel to get it to stay the way he wanted it. He allowed himself to relax, letting himself get lost in the feeling of having John close to him.

“I like your eyes.” John whispered.

Bruce blinked, confused by the sudden compliment. “I uhh… like your eyes too, John.”

He chuckled and reached up to put his hands on Bruce’s face. “I wish I could see them in the batsuit.” He shifted so his face was in front of Bruce’s so that he could gaze into his eyes.

Bruce was painfully aware of how close they were, and in a sudden moment of realization, he recognized what that feeling was in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t even have time to question himself or doubt himself before he was leaning forward and connecting his lips to John’s.

And just like that, it was like in those books he pretended to read so Alfred would leave him alone sometimes. The kiss felt like a thousand years in one moment, that feeling in his stomach just got stronger, and it spread to his heart. When John backed away, Bruce finally realized what he had done, that it wasn’t just in his head, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it, in fact, he had wished the kiss had lasted longer.

John looked at him was an unreadable expression before he broke out into uncontrollable laughter. “You have no idea how long I have been waiting for that.” He managed to get out in between giggles.

It made Bruce laugh too, the ridiculousness of the situation, he could feel the tension in his shoulders that he didn’t know he was holding begin to leave as he let himself laugh along with John.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this fic !! I usually don't write fluff, but I really enjoyed this one! I was excited to participate in this year's secret santa and I really enjoyed writing this fic for you!


End file.
